Joshua to Succeed Moses

31 So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. ² And he said to them, “I am ^(A)120 years old today. I am no longer able to ^(B)go out and come in. The Lord has said to me, ^(C)‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ ³ The Lord your God ^(D)himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, ^(E)as the Lord has spoken. ⁴ And the Lord will do to them ^(F)as he did to Sihon ^(G)and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. ⁵ And the Lord will give them over to you, and you shall do to them ^(H)according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. ^6 (I)Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, ^(J)for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. ^(K)He will not leave you or forsake you.”

⁷ Then ^(L)Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, ^(M)“Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. ⁸ It is the Lord ^(N)who goes before you. He will be with you; ^(O)he will not leave you or forsake you. ^(P)Do not fear or be dismayed.”

The Reading of the Law

⁹ Then Moses ^(Q)wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, ^(R)who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰ And Moses commanded them, ^(S)“At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at ^(T)the Feast of Booths, ¹¹ when all Israel comes ^(U)to appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, ^(V)you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. ^12 (W)Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, ¹³ and that their children, ^(X)who have not known it, ^(Y)may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, ^(Z)as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”

Paul in Corinth

18 After this Paul^[a] left Athens and went to Corinth. ² And he found a Jew named ^(A)Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife ^(B)Priscilla, because ^(C)Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, ³ and ^(D)because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. ⁴ And ^(E)he reasoned in the synagogue ^(F)every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.

^5 (G)When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul ^(H)was occupied with the word, ^(I)testifying to the Jews that the Christ was ^(J)Jesus. ⁶ And when they opposed and reviled him, ^(K)he shook out his garments and said to them, ^(L)“Your blood be on your own heads! ^(M)I am innocent. ^(N)From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” ⁷ And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius ^(O)Justus, ^(P)a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. ^8 (Q)Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together ^(R)with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. ⁹ And the Lord said to Paul ^(S)one night in ^(T)a vision, ^(U)“Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, ^10 (V)for I am with you, and ^(W)no one will attack you to harm you, for ^(X)I have many in this city who are my people.” ¹¹ And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

¹² But when Gallio was ^(Y)proconsul of Achaia, ^(Z)the Jews^[b] made a united attack on Paul and ^(AA)brought him before the tribunal, ¹³ saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to ^(AB)the law.” ¹⁴ But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious ^(AC)crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint. ¹⁵ But ^(AD)since it is a matter of questions about words and names and ^(AE)your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.” ¹⁶ And he drove them from the tribunal. ¹⁷ And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.

Paul Returns to Antioch

¹⁸ After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of ^(AF)the brothers^[c] and set sail for Syria, and with him ^(AG)Priscilla and Aquila. At ^(AH)Cenchreae ^(AI)he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow. ¹⁹ And they came to ^(AJ)Ephesus, and he left them there, but ^(AK)he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. ²⁰ When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined. ²¹ But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you ^(AL)if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.

²² When he had landed at Caesarea, he ^(AM)went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch. ²³ After spending some time there, he departed and ^(AN)went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, ^(AO)strengthening all the disciples.

Joshua Commissioned to Lead Israel

¹⁴ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(A)“Behold, the days approach when you must die. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that ^(B)I may commission him.” And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. ¹⁵ And ^(C)the Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud. And the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance of the tent.

¹⁶ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(D)“Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and ^(E)whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will ^(F)forsake me and ^(G)break my covenant that I have made with them. ¹⁷ Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and ^(H)I will forsake them and ^(I)hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ^(J)‘Have not these evils come upon us because ^(K)our God is not among us?’ ¹⁸ And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because ^(L)they have turned to other gods.

¹⁹ “Now therefore write ^(M)this song and ^(N)teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be ^(O)a witness for me against the people of Israel. ²⁰ For when I have brought them into the land ^(P)flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and ^(Q)grown fat, ^(R)they will turn to other gods and serve them, and ^(S)despise me and ^(T)break my covenant. ²¹ And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as ^(U)a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For ^(V)I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give.” ²² So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel.

^23 (W)And the Lord^[a] commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, ^(X)“Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. ^(Y)I will be with you.”

²⁴ When Moses had finished ^(Z)writing the words of this law in a book to the very end, ²⁵ Moses commanded ^(AA)the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, ²⁶ “Take this Book of the Law ^(AB)and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for ^(AC)a witness against you. ²⁷ For I know how rebellious and ^(AD)stubborn you are. Behold, even today while I am yet alive with you, ^(AE)you have been rebellious against the Lord. How much more after my death! ²⁸ Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak ^(AF)these words in their ears and ^(AG)call heaven and earth to witness against them. ²⁹ For I know that after my death ^(AH)you will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way that I have commanded you. And ^(AI)in the days to come ^(AJ)evil will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(AK)provoking him to anger through the work of your hands.”

Apollos Speaks Boldly in Ephesus

²⁴ Now a Jew named ^(A)Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, ^(B)competent in the Scriptures. ²⁵ He had been instructed in ^(C)the way of the Lord. And ^(D)being fervent in spirit,^[a] he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only ^(E)the baptism of John. ²⁶ He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when ^(F)Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him ^(G)the way of God more accurately. ²⁷ And when he wished to cross to ^(H)Achaia, ^(I)the brothers encouraged him and ^(J)wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, ^(K)he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, ²⁸ for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures ^(L)that the Christ was Jesus.

Paul in Ephesus

19 And it happened that while ^(M)Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed ^(N)through the inland^[b] country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. ² And he said to them, ^(O)“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, ^(P)we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” ³ And he said, ^(Q)“Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into ^(R)John's baptism.” ⁴ And Paul said, ^(S)“John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people ^(T)to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” ⁵ On hearing this, ^(U)they were baptized in^[c] the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ And ^(V)when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and ^(W)they began speaking in tongues and ^(X)prophesying. ⁷ There were about twelve men in all.